Category: Bikes

  • Licht aan! (Get Lit!)

    Sometimes the parallels are just eerie. In the Netherlands a major safety campaign was under way to get cyclists to have proper lights. They even had cops handing out lights. Sound familiar? The difference I noticed with a lot of ‘programs’ like this in the Netherlands is that they get a lot of promotion -…

  • A Painful Conflict

    Over at BikePortland.org, Jonathan reports on a conflict brewing between streetcars and bikes in the new South Waterfront development. As a multimodal alternative transportation advocate, it pains me greatly to see two modes that I love in conflict with each other. I serve as chair of the Portland Streetcar Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) and as…

  • Dutch Voice in Portland

    Christine posted these comments in response to an earlier thread about our time in the Netherlands. I thought they merited their own post! It’s interesting reading you comments about the Dutch bike and car situation in the Netherlands. I’m Dutch and recently moved to Portland. A few comments: You have to understand that there is…

  • More on Bike Parking in the Netherlands

    We’re back in Portland and going over our notes and photos, which will surely prove a rich source of posts for many weeks to come. One theme we’ve already discussed is the prevalence of bike parking in the Netherlands. Here are some very concrete (pun intended) examples from the town of Apeldoorn. There is an…

  • Segmenting the Pavement

    These two pictures, besides demonstrating my incompetence at photo composition, show an approach sometimes used in the Netherlands. This is a street in Utrecht. The non-auto portion of the pavement is broken up into three zones. A bike lane is closest to the auto lanes. And the sidewalk of course is against the buildings. What’s…